Monday, May 2, 2011

I'm having an interesting few months. My focus has been on self-improvement, but beyond the diet and dance lessons I’ve decided to finally fix this:

Mid-back

Lower back

Lower back (detail)

This is largely due to this:

Let me be clear: the x-rays are not from the side and were taken while I was facing forward.

Thinking big picture, the curve is extremely minor compared to congenital scoliosis. I’ve had friends with the condition and my sympathies go out to them.

I’m thinking positively about my situation: it’s minor, it could have been a hell of a lot worse, and its fixable. It's a lot of back pain for someone my age--wait--I’m supposed to be staying positive.

It’s been hell on my painting. I’m limited in the amount of hours I can bend over a plastic pony and it’s gotten exponentially worse with every subsequent fall. I’ve fallen off my horse three times in six month intervals, which I’m informed by medical professionals is “not good” and “unhealthy.” But I’m getting it fixed. Current prognosis is I should be good to excellent in the exceptionally short period of 6 to 8 weeks. This could mean a 90% reduction of my bitching about the hotel mattresses at Breyerfest.

6 comments:

Ouchie! :o It's good to hear you're getting it sorted now - there's probably nothing worse than something like that getting more and more problematic as you get older.

No horror stories from me thankfully other than the fall which resulted in my serious loss of confidence when I was 14. Long story short, the guy that lived next door to the riding school yelled at my instructor to shut up or he'd 'shoot his gun' and five minutes later two shots were fired (not at anyone I might add), all the horses spooked and mine turned at right angles so fast that when I hit the floor I was facing the opposite direction I'd been on the horse! I think it damaged my knee as it clicks when I go up stairs now and my lower back gets really sore if I lean forward to much or do any jumping but aside from that thankfully I'm ok!

Ouch... I have scoliosis but it is not as bad as your back is... :S I can't imagine your pain. :/ It's good that you're getting it sorted soon, though. :)

My worst fall was when the horse I was riding got scared at a whip or something and started gallopping, then a friend of mine tried to stop him, he hit on the brakes and I went flying through his neck and landed straight on my head...

Long time lurker, first time commenter. Had to relate to your back pain with my worst two falls (keep in mind I just turned 18 yesterday, so I've got a lot of years left to keep getting hurt!). First was when I was 12, was bucked off and trampled by a rescue. Broke my arm, my wrist, my ribs, and shattered my jaw in two places, not to mention the loss of consciousness, the amnesia, and the 3 day hospital stay. I'm still dealing with the neuro problems from that 6 years out.The other was just this past September. Riding my draft, doing canter circles. (This is the one who used to do bronc crap, and I was able to sit it all). I had too much weight on my outside sit bone, and he spooked to the inside. I popped right off before I realized what happened. Re-shattered my nose, and snapped my spine in 3 places. No feeling or movement for a good 10 minutes, and I had to walk up to the barn to my trainer and then drive 30 minutes home. Still have no feeling in my legs, and constant back pain.Am I the only one who thinks we're all a little crazy for still riding after these things?!